Israel Protests UN Claim Innocent Syrians Were Shot

UN Under-Secretary General Valerie Amos on Syrian invaders: “Innocent people are losing their lives.”

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 5/17/2011, 8:19 PM

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon expressed Israel’s formal protest to United Nations Under-Secretary-General Valerie Amos, who called the Syrians who broke through the fence on Israel’s border Sunday "innocent."

"Those from enemy countries who breach our borders while using violence and calling for Israel's destruction, cannot be considered innocent, but an immediate and present danger to the citizens of Israel. Every sovereign state has a moral obligation to defend itself, a right that is anchored in the UN charter. The denunciation by the United Nations Under-Secretary-General against Israel reveals a double-standard in regards to Israel," Ayalon said.

Amos, who is also the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, was in Ramallah during the Nakba Day events. She said Sunday:

“I am extremely concerned at the level of violence today, and at the number of deaths and injuries in the region. The situation cannot continue in this way. It is innocent people who are losing their lives.”

Ayalon met Amos Tuesday together with Kristalina Georgieva, European Union Commissioner for International Co-operation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.

DFM Ayalon said that the denunciation reveals double-standards towards Israel: "It is incumbent on that a United Nations senior official will denounce the provocative violence against Israel, its citizens and its sovereignty, instead of pointing the finger at a democracy trying to defend itself," he said.

Ayalon added that "Israel's territory is not worthless and will not be abandoned. Israel has the right and duty, as does any nation, to defend itself and its borders. It is disappointing that the person in charge of humanitarian affairs at the UN requires explanations on why defensible borders are a fundamental right of Israel's citizens. Israelis are not second class citizens and they are entailed to all the rights of citizens of other nations.”

Ayalon also expressed a separate protest against the false representation of Israel contained in the reports made by the UN body chaired by Amos. "There is not now, nor has there been, a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories, these reports are